Mail-box.



E. S. ANNABLE.

MAIL BOX. APPLICATION FILED APB.27, 1908.

929,369. Patefited July 27, 1909.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERVIN S. ANNABLE, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

MAIL-B OX.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERVIN S. ANNABLE, a subject of King Edward, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of a mail-box which shall, being composed of a minimum number of parts, present extreme simplicity of construction, and which shall, therefore, be capable of manufacture and sale at a nominal figure, and which shall be durable in use and thoroughly efficient in operation.

Another important object is to provide a mail-box having separate compartments for larger sizes of mail-matter, such as packages, newspapers, etc., and for smaller sizes of mail-matter, such as letters, 7 ostal-cards, etc. the compartment for the etters forming part of and being disposed on the inner side of the mail-box door and in communication with a letter-chute disposed on the inner side of the front wall of the mail-box which carries said door.

Another object is to render the letter-receptacle a blind one, invisible to the eye when the door is open, and difficult of access thereto without a key therefor.

Another important object is the construction of a mail-box by which, when the door is opened by the postman inserting a key in the ock and unlocking the same, the letters will, by gravity, fall from the letter-compartment, thus obviating the necessity of the postman laboriously scooping out, or removing, the letters, by hand, from such compartment.

Other subsidiary objects, going to make up the ultimate perfection of the whole device, will appear as the specification proceeds.

With the above objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts of a mail-box, as will be described minutely in the remainder of the specification, summed up in the claims, and illustrated in the drawmg.

In the accompanying drawing, forming part of my application, and in which like Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 27, 1908.

Patented July 27, 1909.

Serial No. 429,318.

letters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views: Figure 1 is a front elevation of my mail-box; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 33, Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 44, Fig. 2.

Referring, now, in detail to the drawing: A represents the casing of my mail-box, which may be of the usual exterior form, as shown. is a movable door a, advantageously hinged, at the top, as shown at ct, to the front wall or side of the casing, at a point, preferably, some distance beneath the top thereof, so as to swing upward when opened, and is desirably provided with a lock B.

The open top of the box-casing is bridged by a cover 0, having depending edge-flanges D, subserving the function of preventing access to the interior of the box of rain, snow, dust, etc.

Carried by the door a, on the inner surface thereof, is a letter-receptacle or compartment F, appropriately of smaller capacity than the newspaper or package receptacle or compartment E, occupying the remainder of the interior of the mail-box casing A.

Disposed on the interior surface of the front wall a? of the casing is an open-ended letter-chute G, the lower end of which is directly above and, thus, in communication with and emptying into the letter-receptacle F, when the door is in its normal position, i. 6., closed. The rear wall 9 of the chute G is inclined, so that the smallest width of the chute is at the u per, open end and the largest width at t e open bottom or lower Preferably at the front of the casing end, as clearly shown in the drawing; this arrangement being, obviously, for the purpose of preventing any one attempting to insert his hand and arm into the chute G and the receptacle F, in the endeavor to abstract and purloin letters from the mail-box.

The box may be constructed of any suitable material, such as sheet metal, and may be of any appropriate size, for the particular purpose or situation intended, and may be disposed in private residences, office-buildings, hotels, or the like, and on the municipal streets.

In operation, the cover C is lifted by the erson desiring to deposit mail-matter in the ox, and, if it is a package or newspaper, he drops the same into the larger compartment E if a letter, or a postal-card, or the like, he drops it into the upper open end of the letter-chute G, whence it descends, by gravity, into the communicating letter-compartment or receptacle F. No one but the postman, or some one with the proper key, can withdraw the letters from the box, as the door has first to be unlocked by a key. Upon swinging the door upward on its hinges, the letters fall, by gravity, from the letter-compartment E, thus relieving the collector of the task of scooping out the letters, by hand, from the letter-receptacle.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is;

1. In a mail-box, a casing, one of the walls thereof being provided with a door hinged at its upper end to said wall, a letter-receptacle carried by said door on the interior surface thereof, and an open-ended letter-chute carried by said casing-wall on the interior surface thereof, said letter-chute emptying into said letter-receptacle.

2. In a mail-box, a casing, one of the walls thereof carrying a door hinged at its upper end to said wall at a point removed from proximity to the upper end thereof, a letterreceptacle carried y said door 011 the interior surface thereof, and an open-ended letter-chute carried by said casing-wall on the interior surface thereof, said letter-chute emptying into said letter receptacle.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature in the presence of two subscribing wit- DGSSGS.

ERVIN S. ANNABLE. lvitnesses HARRISON C. GARDNER, CHARLES W. LOVETT. 

